


Au Nom de l'Amour  /  In the Name of Love

by smarieg00



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, this was hard to write, this was supposed to be short, why did I want to write something sad?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-14
Updated: 2016-09-14
Packaged: 2018-08-14 23:21:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8032990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smarieg00/pseuds/smarieg00
Summary: This fic sprung from the song Sacred Heart by the Civil Wars. Listen to it. It's good and in French.





	Au Nom de l'Amour  /  In the Name of Love

_Quand je marche dans la_ _rue_ /  When I walk down the road

 _La rue vers le sacré cœur_ / _the road that leads to the Sacre Coeur_

 _Je me souviens des promesses  /_ _I remember the promises_

 _Au nom de l’amour_ / _In the name of love_

 

Marinette stared straight ahead as she walked down the road. The rain was light, but it was enough to give her goose bumps.

It was darker than usual because the rain on the street distorted the light.

It had been two weeks. Two weeks where she seemed alone. Two weeks without Chat Noir. Two weeks without her Chaton.

She thought back to before it happened. Patrol. That’s what they were doing. Nothing ever happened during their patrol. They would just jump from roof to roof bantering with each other. This particular day they had been planning.

A plan that never happened.

They were planning on spending Halloween together, and at the end of the night, revealing their identities. It had only been two weeks away.

It was going to be perfect. No more walls between them. Marinette hadn’t cared any longer. She just wanted to know her Chaton.

Tears started to sting her eyes, so she focused on where she was going. Every day for a week she had been taking walks. The same trip every day.

She had almost reached her destination.

The Akuma had come out of nowhere. They had just finished their patrol and headed their separate ways. He called her, and she ran as fast as she could to meet him. Just barely too late.

She reached her spot and sat down underneath the statue. Their statue. It was the first one that had ever been made of them, and it had always been his favorite.

Too late. Too late. Those words haunted her. Too late to save him. Too late to keep his identity from the public. Too late to tell him she loved him.

A tear rolled down her face as she sat in the grass. Her hair, wet with the rain, weighed her down. She pulled her knees to her chest and dropped her head into her hands.

She carried him to the roof and cried over his body. The body of her first love. The boy she had never been able to speak to. The boy who didn’t know how much she loved him.

She lifted her head to let the rain cover her face, To let it hide the tears that had formed a steady stream.

She thought back to that next night without him. She tried to continue her duty, but she broke down when she got to their meeting spot. Her Chaton had always been there to greet her. Never again would she try to sneak up on him, even though he always knew she was there. Never could she try to get there before him again. She would always get there before him.

She put her head back down and tried to hear his voice. She tried to remember all his stupid puns. They way he tirelessly flirted with her when they had just met.

She tried to remember all the happy time they had had. The nights they would spend watching the stars instead of patrolling. The day she first really kissed him.

She thought back to the next week without him. How they weather betrayed her. The sun was always out, and the birds were chirping as if nothing were wrong. As if her world weren’t falling apart.

She stayed locked in her room with dark curtains covering the windows. She knew that everyone was worried about her, but none of them truly understood how she felt. All she wanted to do was hold her Chaton and tell him how much she loved him, how much she needed him.

Her miraculous in her ears a painful reminder of who he was, and his miraculous sitting on her desk a painful reminder of who he would never get to be. Marinette couldn’t look at Tikki. She always left cookies out for her, but couldn't talk to her. Couldn’t talk to anyone.

Alya tried to call her every day, but Marinette never answered. Eventually, her phone died, so it didn’t ring again.

Marinette stood up and wiped the tears from her eyes. A useless effort.

The second week without her chaton she was restless. She took a shower each morning and ate breakfast with her parents. She tried to convince them that she was okay, but they all knew she wasn’t.

She walked around the edge of the park.

That was when it started raining. When she started to try to put herself back together, the weather betrayed her again. She went out for the first walk that evening. Her parents tried to get her to stay home. They didn’t want her to get a cold, but eventually they gave in. That first night she didn’t pay attention to where she was going, and when she stopped by the statue she sat for what seemed like forever.

Marinette didn’t know how many laps she usually took around the park, so she walked until the tears slowed.

She remembered that first night under the statue. Her parents had sent Alya out after Marinette to make sure nothing happened to her. She sent her away. Marinette knew she had been harsh to Alya, but she didn’t want anyone around. Just her Chaton.

Marinette started on the long way home, not quite ready to go back to the comfort of her house.

She remembered how hard she tried at the beginning of the week.She forced herself to eat even though she wasn’t hungry, forced herself to interact by working in the bakery all day. She wasn’t ready to go back to school. She couldn’t face everyone, but she charged her phone and tried to talk to Alya, but she never could for long. She talked to Tikki more. But none of it ever helped.

The best thing that happened that week was that there had been no Akuma. If Hawkmoth was smart he would’ve attacked. Everyone knew what had happened to Chat Noir, but no one knew what happened to Ladybug.

The second best thing that had happened was that it wasn’t Saturday yet. It wasn’t Halloween. Alya wanted Marinette to go out with her. Marinette knew Alya was just trying to be a good friend, and get her out of her misery, but there was no way Marinette was going out on Halloween.

She spent the rest of her walk trying not to think. Trying not to think about how she’d never gotten to kiss him without their masks. How he had never known who she really was. How he was gone. Forever.

Marinette hadn’t been paying enough attention. She had made a wrong turn or a few. She could just transform. She could fix this situation by herself. She almost said the words. Almost got them across her lips.

She pulled out her phone and opened her contacts. There at the top of her list was Adrien. She’d never get to use his number. Never get to call him to make plans for a date. Never hear him call her princess again. She clicked his name even though she knew he wouldn’t answer; He couldn’t answer.

“Hello.” His voice filled her ears and she slides down the wall of a building. “You’ve reached Adrien Agreste. Sorry, I couldn’t answer the phone. Leave a message and I’ll try to get back to you.”

The phone beeped.

“Chaton? I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you.” Marinette started to cry. “I love you.”

She hung up, not bothering to save the message. He’d never get it anyways. She clicked the next contact on her phone as tears started to cloud her vision.

“Marinette? Are you okay?”

“No. I’m not okay Alya. Can you come pick me up? I just need a friend right now.”

“Where are you.”

“I don’t know Alya. I was on a walk and I wasn’t paying attention.”

“What’s around you, girl? Tell me and I’ll figure it out.”

Marinette stood up and looked around. She froze when she saw what was across the street.

“I’m at his house.”

“Whose house Marinette?”

“A-a-a-” She tried to speak, but the words wouldn’t come out.

“I’ve got you, girl. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

Marinette still held the phone to her ear even though the call was over. She couldn’t move. She was outside Adrien’s house. This was where her feet had taken her while her head had been absent.

Her hand fell, and she walked across the street. His house was dark. Marinette couldn’t imagine what his father was feeling. She knew he wasn’t the best father, but there was no way that he didn’t care.

Marinette didn’t know how long she had been standing in front of his house, but by the time Alya pulled up in her car, the rain had slowed some.

Marinette climbed into the passenger seat next to Alya.

Neither of them said a word for the next few minutes.

“Can you stay with me?”

“Of course. Anything for you.”

“I’m really sorry for how I’ve been treating you the last weeks.”

“It’s okay Mari. I know you’ve been grieving.”

Marinette didn’t say another word until they were in her room.

“Can I be truthful with you Alya?”

“Of course Mari. You can tell me anything.”

“There’s a reason I don’t want to go out tomorrow.”

Alya was silent, letting Marinette speak until she was done.

“Halloween was the day I was going to tell him. I was gonna tell him that I love him.”

Marinette paused as her breath hitched, and she started crying again.

“I never told him I loved him Alya, and now he’s gone.”

Alya moved next to Marinette so she could hold her friend as she cried.

Alya whispered comforting words to Marinette, but she didn’t hear them.

“It was going to be perfect. We had it all planned. We were gonna meet at the Louvre and spent the night together, going to parties, and trick-or-treating, then at the end of the night I was gonna tell him, and there were gonna be no more secrets, but I was too late.”

It was obvious that Alya was lost, but she continued to comfort her friends.

“I was gonna tell him I was Marinette, and it was gonna be perfect Alya.” She looked up at her friend with those last words.

“Slow down Marinette. It’s okay.”

Alya was beyond confused and had to repress the reporter side of her who needed answers, to comfort her friend.

Marinette knew she still had a secret identity, but she needed the two best friends that she had left.

“Tikki, I need you.”

Tikki didn’t say a word, but flew over, and snuggled into Marinette doing her best to comfort her.

The three of them sat like that for a while. Tikki and Alya held Marinette until she stopped shaking and fell asleep. Alya carried her to the chaise, careful not to wake her.

Alya laid next to Marinette with Tikki between their heads. Eventually, Alya fell asleep too.

When they woke up the next morning Marinette was expecting a million questions from Alya, but she was met with none.

“You can tell me when you’re ready girl.”

They went down to eat breakfast, and Marinette’s parents were already in the bakery working. They ate in silence. Until Marinette started the conversation.

“So. What are you doing tonight?”

“I was gonna go to a party with Nino, but if you need me I’ll stay here.”

“No, you should go. I don’t want you to miss out.”

“Are you sure. I don’t want to leave you by yourself.”

“I’m sure.”

The conversation ended there as they finished eating.

“I’m gonna go take a shower, but if you have any questions, Tikki can answer them.”

“Okay, girl. Take your time.”

With that, Marinette turned toward the bathroom, and Alya turned to Tikki.

“Hello. Alya. It’s nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard so much about you, and it’s unfortunate that this is the way we meet.”

“This question might sound a little rude, but what are you?”

“I’m a Kwami.”

“What’s that?”

“Kwamis are gods. I am the goddess of creation and good luck.”

“Okay, what do you do?”

“Well, my main purpose is to assist Ladybug.”

“Assist Ladybug? Does that mean-”

Alya cut her sentence short working out the meaning in her head.

“Marinette is Ladybug?”

“Yes.”

“So she wasn’t going to tell Adrien that she loved him tonight. She was going to tell Chat Noir, and they were going to share each other’s identities.”

“Oh, Marinette. She didn’t just lose the love of her life. She lost her best friend, her partner.” Alya paused for a moment and thought. “Tikki what happens if Hawkmoth doesn’t stop?”

“I’ve wondered this myself, and Marinette won’t be able to handle it by herself. She tried to transform that first night and broke down. I know where I need to go, but I can’t take Marinette there. She’s too fragile right now.”

“Can I help you? I can come back here after the party if you need me.”

“Yes, that would be nice.”

Marinette came back shortly after, and the three of them spent the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon watching movies.

“Marinette, I’m gonna leave now, unless you changed your mind. I really wouldn’t mind staying here with you.”

“No, it’s okay. I’ll be fine.”

“Alright. I’ll see you later?”

“Yea. See you later.”

Alya went to the party with Nino but spent the whole time worrying about Marinette. She went to leave after an hour, explaining to Nino that she wanted to check on Marinette. He decided to come with her because he hadn’t seen her since the day it happened.

When they got to Marinette’s house they found asleep on the sofa.

“I’m gonna stay with her, but you can go home, she’s asleep anyways.”

“Yea, tell her I came by. I’ll see you later.” He gave her a kiss and left quietly.

“Tikki? Are you here?”

“Yes. Are you ready to go?”

Alya nodded her head. “Let’s wait a few minutes, though, so Nino doesn’t see me.”

After a few minutes, Alya grabbed her jacket and headed for the door.

“Wait, I need you to grab something from Marinette’s room. It’s a black and red box on her desk.”

“Okay. I’ll go get it.” Alya and Tikki headed up to Marinette’s room being as quiet as she could. She saw the box immediately and opened it curious as to what was inside.

Inside the box was a silver ring wrapped in black velvet. She looked at the ring closer and recognized it. It was the one that Adrien used to wear every day.

“Tikki, Is this-”

“Chat Noir’s ring? yes.”

Alya was at a loss for words.

“I- I guess we’re ready to go then.”

She slipped the box into her pocket, and quietly left the house. Alya’s pocket felt heavy.

Their destination wasn’t that far away, and when they got there Alya carefully pushed the door open.

“Is anyone here?”

Tikki flew into the open air.

“Wayzz? Master Fu?”

“Tikki?” An old voice called out. “I was wondering when you would come.”

The old man stepped out of the shadows, and into the faint light. There was a green creature- a Kwami floating by his shoulder.

“This is not your wielder.”

“No, but she is her friend. I could not bring Marinette here. She is grieving deeply.”

“I can imagine this is hard on her.” He paused. “You are worried about Hawkmoth, but I feel a change in the darkness. I’m not sure what this means.”

He stopped speaking. the silence was deafening to Alya, but there was a look to Master Fu that kept her silent.

“I feel the darkness receding but not by a lot.”

“We have the cat miraculous. What do should we do with it?”

Master Fu turned and addressed Alya directly. “Keep it in case Hawkmoth returns. Ladybug will need your help if he does.”

“Me? Be Chat Noir?”

She looked at the box in her hand and tried to imagine herself as Chat Noir. It was strange to think that instead of being behind the camera she might be in it.

“Yes. I’ve seen your blog and know that you will not abuse the power.”

“Should I wear it now? Or just when I’m needed?”

“You should always wear it. Get to know Plagg, but let him grieve as well. Having a new wielder will be hard on him.”

She slipped the ring on, and a black Kwani flew out of it. He flew immediately to Tikki and hugged her. She could hear him mumbling about Adrien and Tikki trying to console him.

Alya was too focused to the ring to really hear what they were saying. She felt weird. She shouldn’t be wearing Adrien’s ring. It felt like she was betraying Adrien’s memory by wearing it.

“It was good to see you again Wayzz.” Tikki was addressing the green Kwami. “May the next time we meet be under better circumstances.”

With that, Plagg and Tikki flew into Alya’s jacket.

“Take care of them, and wield the miraculous well.”

Alya wasn’t sure what to say, so she thanked him and left.

She walked back to Marinette’s house, the whole way fiddling with the ring. It still felt foreign on her finger.

Marinette was waking up when she got back.

“Alya? You didn’t have to come back.”

“It’s okay.” She was still looking at the ring and wiggling it. “I wanted to make sure you were still good.”

Marinette was looking at the ring now too. Neither had noticed that the two Kwamis were watching them.

“Is that Adrien’s ring?”

“Yea. I can explain. Tikki took me to this place because she needed to talk to this guy.”

“Master Fu?”

Alya finally looked up at her friend. “Yea. She was worried about what would happen if Hawkmoth made another Akuma, and he said the darkness was receding, he didn’t know what it meant, so he told me that I should wear it just in case.”

“So, you’re Chat Noir now.”

“Yea. I don’t know what to think about that either. It just feels strange wearing his ring.”

“Can I look at it? I’ve never really seen it like this before.”

“Yea. Of course.”

Alya rushed over to the sofa where Marinette was sitting.

“It’s not very interesting just a silver ring.”

Marinette held Ayla’s hand turning the ring so she could look at all of it.

“It’s beautiful.”

Marinette collapsed into Alya, wrapping her arms around her friend.

“I can’t believe he’s gone Alya. I never got to tell him I loved him.”

“I’m sure he knew that.”

“But I never go to tell him. I know he knew, but he never got to hear me say it. I never got to say it.”

“It’s okay Mari, you’ll get through this.” Alya lifted her friends head up so she could look her in the eyes. “You are one of the strongest people that I know, and the fact that you’re ladybug only proves that fact even more.”

Then they heard a faint crash followed by screams.

“No. No. Alya I can’t do now. I’m not ready.”

“It’s okay. I’ll be right by your side the whole time.”

“Okay. It’s not like I can say no. Let’s get up to the roof.”

They ran to Marinette’s room, followed by their Kwamis and went through the door to the balcony.

Marinette froze when they got up there. She was vaguely aware of Plagg talking to Alya and Tikki talking to her. There was a flash of green light, and Alya became Chat Noir.

Marinette tried to transform, but the words were caught in her throat. Her throat clenched and she tried to focus on something other than her fear.

She looked to Alya, but that only made her worse because she was faced by Chat Noir.

“Mari. You can do this. I’m gonna give you a minute, while I go check out the situation. Don’t let me down. You can do this.”

Marinette looked away as Alya sprang off the balcony in the direction of the Akuma. Alya’s words echoed in her mind. Don’t let me down.

“What if she gets hurt Tikki. What if I’m too late again?”

“Marinette calm down. She’ll be fine for a minute, but she’ll need your help. You can do this.”

“I-I can do this. I h-have to do this.” Marinette took a deep breath.”T-Tikki spots on!”

Pink light enveloped Marinette in a sensation she hadn’t felt in a while. She leaped off her house with a surge of confidence she knew was coming from Tikki.”

Marinette got to the scene before Alya had taken any action.

There was a man standing on a roof nearby, and in the pavilion below there was a mob of Things being controlled by the man on the roof.

“This isn’t an ordinary Akuma. I can tell that already. Usually, the victim fights, not just letting others fight for them.”

“Well, what do we do? You’re the one who has experience.”

Marinette assessed the situation again and thought for a moment.

“Let’s deal with his minions first, then we can deal with him directly.”

“They leaped into the middle of the Things and started fighting them immediately. They were very easy to fight one-on-one, but in a mob, it was more difficult.

They had thinned out his minions, but he kept creating them.

Alya called out to Marinette.

“Ladybug! They keep coming. You need to go deal with the man on the roof.”

“No, I won’t leave you. I can’t lose you too.”

“I can deal with them. Go! I can do this.”

Marinette turned toward the man determined to deal with him as quickly as possible. She swung up to the opposite side of the roof where the victim was located.

Immediately, she felt something off about him.

“You aren’t traumatized.”

“Very good. Ladybug.”

“Then what are you?”

The man, who had previously watched the fight, turned to face her.

“You mean who am I? I am Hawkmoth.”

Marinette froze. Hawkmoth was right in front of her. If she played this right she could get his miraculous and be done with him.

“I have a proposition for you?”

“No. I’m not making any deal with you.”

He took a step closer to her, but she stayed in her place, not backing down.

“I think you’ll want to hear what I have to say.”

He took another step.

“There is no doubt that you know what happened to Chat Noir- The previous one, not whoever this is.”

“Don’t you dare talk about Chat Noir! If it weren’t for you, he would still be here. You have no right to even say his name!”

“Oh, I’m well aware that it is my fault.” Marinette was fuming at his words. How dare he talk about Chat Noir.  He took another step forward. Now there were only a few feet between them. “That is why I want to bring him back.”

Marinette’s anger started to fade. “You can’t do that. How would that even be possible?”

“With your miraculous of course.”

“No. You’re lying.”

He took a step and walked in a circle around her. She turned to him as he walked, keeping her eyes on him the whole time.

“Why would I lie to you? With the combined power of the creation and destruction miraculous, it is possible to bring the dead back to life.”

He kept walking around her, and she followed.

“If it was possible, which it isn’t, then why would you want to bring him back? What could you possibly gain from that?”

“He’s my son.”

Marinette felt something inside her break.

“That means you’re-” They stopped walking. “Gabriel Agreste.”

“Yes.”

“No. It’s not possible to bring him back. I don’t care what you say.” Marinette jumped toward him, reaching for the broach she had identified as his miraculous a few minutes ago.

He stepped back, causing her to stumble, but she regained her footing quickly.

“Did you think it would be that easy? That you could just grab my miraculous like that? I knew you were going to try that. I honestly thought you were going to do it sooner.”

The two enemies were too focused on each other to notice Alya coming up behind him.

Marinette didn’t have the words to adequately express what she was feeling at that moment. Gabriel Agreste, her now former idol, was Hawkmoth and the reason that Adrien was gone.

Luckily even if she had had the words she wasn’t given the time because Alya clad in black sprang up from behind Hawkmoth, grabbing his miraculous as she flipped over him.

“Did you need this?” She held it up as if it were a toy and not the very thing that had been causing Paris’s distress for years.

His transformation began to dissolve, but it wasn’t like Marinette had ever seen. There wasn’t a flash of light that flowed down and left civilian clothes in the place of the spandex suit.

Hawkmoth’s transformation was torn off of him piece by piece. A spot from his arm, then from his leg, then from his torso. His face was filled with agony.

Marinette and Alya almost felt bad for him because it looked like it hurt.

When it was finally finished, all that was left was the shell of a man.

What was left of his minions turned into a cloud of white butterflies and flew off.

Marinette fell to her knees, emotionally drained.

Alya knelt down by her friend.

“It’s over, girl. You did it. We won.”

“What do we do with him?”

She tried to spit the words out as an insult, but her heart wasn’t in it, and she just wanted to go home.

“I guess we take him to the police.”

By then, a crowd had gathered in the pavilion, which meant there were police too.

Alya gently pulled her friend to her feet and over to Gabriel Agreste.

“You get one side. I’ll get the other, and we’ll take him down there.”

If it weren’t for the barrier the police had been putting up, Alya and Marinette would’ve been mobbed when they got to the ground.

They handed Gabriel over to the police and explained who he was. They were told that he would be detained and put on trial. Over the next few weeks, the trial took place, and Marinette and Alya had to testify as Chat Noir and Ladybug respectively, and Alya had to testify as the runner of the Lady Blog, which had become the official blog for Chat Noir and Ladybug over the years. Gabriel was sentenced to life in prison, and his company collapsed.

After they answering a few questions, Marinette and Alya returned to the Dupain-Cheng living house.

The sun was just starting to rise, so they decided to stay on the balcony and enjoy the view.

“It’s mornings like this when I fall in love with Paris all over again.”

Alya looked over at her friend. “Aside from Hawkmoth?”

Marinette smiled and confirmed her friend's question. She faced her friend and her smile faded a little.

“I miss him Alya.”

“We all do.”

With that Alya’s transformation released. Marinette didn’t know if it was on purpose on her part, or on Plagg's part, but she released her transformation too.

“Hi, Marinette. I never got to meet you.”

“So, you’re Plagg? I’ve heard a bit about you.”

“I could say the same about you, but that would be a lie because h-he used to talk about you a lot.”

“He talked about me?”

“Yes. He had quite the crush on you for a while, but he never did anything about it because he loved Ladybug.” Plagg smiled at the memory. “I thought he was quite silly because you were the same person, but it wasn’t my place to tell him that.”

Marinette smiled at the thought, but it faded when the morning’s events made their way back to her mind.

Marinette turned to her little red friend.

“Tikki? Hawkmoth said that our miraculous could be used to bring back the dead. Is this true?”

Tikki sighed. “Yes.”

Marinette brought her knees up to her chest.

“We could do it? We could bring him back”

Plagg spoke up. “In theory, yes, but it is very dangerous. The miraculous are all about balance, so to bring back a life one must be sacrificed; That person is the one who wields the miraculous together. It is possible to survive, but you have to be very strong emotionally and physically.”

Tikki

“I know you miss him Marinette, but it is a very unadvisable thing to do because the person brought back, is never the same, and there has only ever been one person to survive bringing someone back, and he was never the same after. He had violent mood swings and was bordering insanity.”

“Not to mention this cat is on his ninth life.”

Alya, who had been quiet since their transformations fell, joined in the conversation now.

“What does that mean?”

“Well, the saying about cats having nine lives comes from Tikki and I. We have nine lives in the sense that this power can only be used 9 times, and after the ninth time the miraculous are destroyed, and we’re gone forever.”

“So if Hawkmoth had gotten a hold of you too. You would’ve been destroyed?”

“Yes.”

“Speaking of him.” Alya held up Gabriel’s miraculous. “Should we take this to Master Fu?”

“Yes. He will be expecting you.”

Marinette’s stomach growled.

“Can we eat breakfast first?”

“Of course, girl. It’s good to see your appetite is back.”

They went down into Marinette’s room and change into clean clothes before heading downstairs.

They hurriedly ate breakfast, then Marinette followed Alya to Master Fu’s.

When they got there they both walked through the doors with more confidence than they did the last times they were there.

They found Master Fu in the middle of the room with a client.

“You two can sit over here.” He gestured to a bench on the other side of the room. “And I’ll be with you in a few minutes.”

Marinette and Alya crossed the room and sat down. Fortunately for them, Master Fu’s appointment was almost done, so they didn’t have to wait long.

The man who Fu had been working with left, leaving the three of them alone, so all of their Kwamis came out.

Tikki and Plagg flew over to greet Wayzz, so the girls walked over to Master Fu.

Alya stretched out her arm. “We brought this for you.”

“It has been many centuries since the butterfly miraculous has been in the guardian’s possession.” He turned to Marinette. “Thank you for your service as Ladybug. I know you have sacrificed much.” Then he addressed Alya. “I would like to thank you as well. You came in a great time of need and succeeded.”

Master Fu paused for a minute, but neither Alya nor Marinette knew what to say. They didn’t know what to expect from this meeting.

“As for your miraculous, you may keep them longer if you would like, or you may return them. The choice is yours.”

Alya hesitated a moment, then slipped the ring off her finger and held it out to Fu.

“While being a superhero is amazing, this never really was mine, and it would feel wrong to keep it.”

Master Fu took the ring in his hand and walked away to put it away, which left Marinette to her thoughts.

She didn’t think she could say goodbye to Tikki, but Ladybug wasn’t needed anymore, so she could give it up. She could go back to her normal life, but she didn’t know if she wanted that.

She didn’t know what she wanted at all if she was being honest.

Fu approached them again. He watched Marinette, waiting for an answer, but also ready to offer her a different option.

“I don’t think I can say goodbye to Tikki yet. I’m not ready for that.”

“That’s fine. As I told you, it is your choice, but I have a special proposition for you. I am very old, much more than you think, and I have been the Guardian and protected the Miraculous longer than most have.”

Marinette listened intently and didn’t say a word.

“The Miraculous will need a new guardian soon, and I see no better fit than the young woman who saved Paris time and time again.”

“Are you asking if I want to be the Guardian?”

“Yes. You can say no, but I don’t think you will.”

“I-I don’t know what to say. I guess yes. I’ll do it. I don’t really know what being a guardian entails, but I’d love to do it.”

“Not a guardian, The guardian. It will take a few years of training, but we have the time. There is much you will learn but now is not the time. For now, you should mourn your friend. When you are ready come back to me, and we will begin.”

Alya, Marinette, and Tikki left shortly after that. They all said goodbye to Plagg, but Marinette knew she would see him again.

\--------------------------------------------

A week later Marinette sat down in the grass with Tikki resting on her knee. She pulled out a pen and her diary from her bag. The journal wasn’t even filled halfway because she had only had it for a month before the accident.

She opened to the first entry.

_Dear Diary,_

_I’m really glad I’ve gotten over my stuttering. Adrien is a great friend, and I think I’d be okay with it if nothing more ever happened between us._

Marinette remembered the time when she wrote that. She and Adrien had become friends, but she hadn’t really realized that her feeling for him had shifted to mostly platonic, or that Chat Noir had started to catch her eye more.

There was more in this entry, but she flipped a few pages ahead.

_Dear Diary,_

_I think I like Chat Noir. This wasn’t supposed to happen. I don’t like him; I like Adrien, not Chat Noir. That stupid cat and his puns and flirting. How many times have I rolled my eyes at his puns, and told him his flirting doesn’t work? Yet, here I am blushing at the thought of him. How did this happen?_

Marinette remembered that day. She freaked out when she realized she liked Chat. She skipped patrol that day because she didn’t want to see him. She had wanted it to all be a dream.

She flipped a few more pages.

_Dear Diary,_

_I tried to ignore it. I really did, but I couldn’t help it. He was flirting with me, and I flirted back. I didn’t even know what I had done, but Chat was frozen, and I realized what I said. I ran straight home. What have I done?_

By then, Marinette had accepted her feeling but tried to ignore them as much as she could. After that incident, she was awkward around him for a few days, but as he kept flirting, she kept flirting back and got more comfortable with it. She probably enjoyed the way she made him blush a little too much.

She flipped to the next page, knowing already what it was.

_Dear Diary,_

_I kissed him._

_I wasn’t planning on it, but the flirting got a little out of hand, and we were standing so close, that it just happened._

Marinette thought back to that patrol. Chat had tripped, so he made it a joke.

“Do you have a band-aid because I scrapped my knee falling for you.”

Marinette had held out her hand as she spits out her line playing it off as banter, and putting a subtle sarcastic tone in it.

“I should call you google because you have everything I’m looking for.”

He grabbed her hand, but instead of standing up, Chat pulled her down to him.

“Your eyes are blue, like the ocean, and I’m lost at sea.”

She was sitting on his lap, but neither of them really noticed. Their hearts were beating fast, and they were leaning into each other.

“Are you a cat because you’re purr-fect.”

Any other time, Chat would have commented on her pun, but instead, he wrapped his arm around her and placed his hand on the small of her back.

“Roses are red. Violets are blue, I didn’t know what purr-fect was until I met you.”

His voice was hushed, but she was close enough to hear him fine. Marinette ran her hand through his hair causing her to close more of the space between them.

It didn’t take much to close the rest of the space, and she did.

She had never understood the phrase sparks fly before then because their kiss felt electric. It excited her and scared her at the same time.

They broke apart, and both sprung to their feet.

“Ladybug- I’m sorry I didn’t mean to.”

“It’s okay Chaton. I-I have to go.”

Marinette turned and ran before either of them said anything else.

She felt bad about abandoning him there later, but fear took over the excitement, so she ran.

Marinette remembered sitting on her balcony for hours after that think about it, about him. She was sure she had messed everything up by running from him. She thought he probably thought that she regretted it.

The next patrol she apologized for running, but she didn’t know how to say what she was feeling, so she kissed him again.

He held her tight and made her promise she wouldn’t run away this time. They didn’t patrol much that night. They didn’t do much of anything. Most of the night, they star-gazed. There wasn’t much to see because they were in the city, but it was more about being near each more than it was about seeing the stars.

Marinette smiled at that entry and flipped to the last thing she wrote.

_Dear Diary,_

_I love him. I want to tell him._

That was it. Short and sweet. A want that could never truly be fulfilled.

Marinette smiled as she thought of how oblivious she was: about Adrien being Chat Noir, about his feelings, even about the depth of her own feelings.

She sighed; the hints of her smile still on her face, as she opened to the next page.

_Dear Diary,_

It felt strange writing in her diary again.

_It’s been so long since I’ve written. I stopped writing because my life was good, so I didn’t need to bring you all my problems, then my life dropped so quickly so fast that I couldn’t talk about my problems. To anyone._

_Here’s a short re-cap: Chat Noir and I were in love. I never told him, but he knew. We were going to tell each other who we were, and life was going to be purr-fect._

Tears started to form in her eyes when she thought of the future the could’ve had together.

_Then he died. I blamed myself for a while, but there is no way I could’ve gotten there any faster than I did. I locked myself up for a week, then spent a week forcing myself to do things. I cried so much. The day before Halloween, I got lost on my walk. I called Alya and she took me home and comforted me._

_That was when things started getting better._

_Halloween night Alya went to talk to Master Fu, and he told her to be Chat Noir in case anything happened. She came back to my house to check on me, and we talked, and I cried._

_Then Hawkmoth attacked. He tried to get me to join him, and I wanted to because he was going to bring my Chaton back. Thankfully, Alya came and saved the day. We defeated him, and I wouldn’t have been able to do it without her._

_We went to Master Fu’s and Alya gave back the ring. I could’ve given up my miraculous and be normal again, but I was never really normal, to begin with._

_Master Fu gave me another option, though. He said I could become The Guardian of the Miraculous. I told him I wanted to do it, so he told me to come back after I mourned for Adrien._

_I think I’m going to go see him today. I have to move on at some point. I won’t forget Chat. There is no way I could, but he would want me to be happy._

She set the journal down in front of her and looked up at what stood before her.

She read it for the hundredth time but wasn’t really reading it because she had it memorized.

‘In loving memory of Adrien Agreste: Protector of Paris, and great friend.

Memories are a gift to treasure, Ours of you will last forever.’

“I miss you Chaton.”

Marinette placed her journal in her bag and stood up. She blinked away the tears that started to spring up.

“I’ll see you again someday.”

Marinette left the cemetery with the hope that day. Hope for her future, and hope that she would see him again.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this. 
> 
> I hadn't planned on it being this long, and thought about cutting a lot of it. (AKA most of it) However, I spent a while on it so I figured I might as well share the whole story.
> 
> Find me on tumblr @sydneytriestowrite


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